Goodbye January, Hello February!

So I noticed in my email this morning that Devourer of Books posted her January wrap up. I mention this for two reasons: 1) I think that email alerts for new posts is the way for me to go to keep up with the blogs that I love – Google Reader just isn’t cutting it anymore – and b) it’s been a long time since I’ve wrapped up a month. It’s a good practice, so here I am in my car writing this post during my lunch break.

January: A Banner Reading Month

I finished 11 books during the month of January. 9 of those were completely read during the month. This has to be some kind of a personal record for me. I didn’t feel as though I was spending an inordinate amount of time reading. I think that the time I spent reading I was more likely to actually spend reading and not on Twitter. Twitter is essential to my reading and blogging life, but it does have the ability to divide my attention like nothing else. Here’s the list of the books I read during the month of January:

The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant (began in December)Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer (began in December)The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettA Year and Six Seconds by Isabel GilliesFirst You Try Everything by Jane McCaffertyGoldfinger by Ian FlemingRunning the Riftby Naomi BenaronLess Than Zero by Bret Easton EllisRestoration by Olaf Olafsson (released on 2/7/12)The Sense of an Ending by Julian BarnesThe Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Here are my favorite print and audiobook reads during January 2012:

Of note was my reaction to Less Than Zero. It’s still early days, but I believe that book has a good shot at being my least favorite book of all time. Yes, I would read Moby Dick and The Heart of Darkness again with great pleasure rather if it could only erase the few hours I spent reading my first and only Bret Easton Ellis book.

January: NORC Drop Out

God. I was in such a good place toward the end of last year. I dug myself out of a 15-review hole and vowed to never find myself in the red again. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. As always, life and my job got in the way of my reading and reviewing. Despite my best attempts, I began January in a 10-review hole. I first set a goal to get finished with older reviews by my 5th Blogoversary (thanks to everyone for their well wishes!). I still had 10 reviews left to write when that date came and went. Then, I was sure, I would be out of the hole by the end of January. During the last week of January, I was making progress and was excited to contemplate earning my way back into the NORC fold. I had gotten my total review count down to 8. Then I noticed something. There were books that I finished that were not listed in Library Thing to review. Ugh.

As of today, I’m now 11 reviews in arrears. In addition to the titles listed above without links to reviews, I need to review the following from December:

You did have a banner reading month in January! I read quite a few (for me) too, but I’m very quickly getting behind in my reviews. Apparently I like to read more and faster than I like to write. Sometimes it is just a matter of needing to dwell on it for a bit, but if I wait too long then the words to talk about it elude me. Sigh. Hope you get caught up 🙂

A person my age is likely to subscribe to the ancient saying that there is “nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The same themes and dramas seem to play out repeatedly. The sun rises and set[…]

What I really need to do is lock myself away with the list of books I need to review, copies of said books, a computer without the Internet and that’s it. I can come out when the reviews are finished. It might be my only salvation. LOL!

I finished 5 in January, and 3 were complete reads. I’m also looking forward to A Good American in February, along with Defending Jacob and The Underside of Joy, for book club This Beautiful Life, and on audio finishing The Language of Flowers, Whew, crazy days!!
Happy Reading!!

Thanks for the email post idea. I follow Devourer of Books but have not received an email from her. Good job on your month of January, mine was also a record. 2012 for me is the big year of Reading Challenges, and I enjoy so much the 52 countries one. here is my January wrap-up: http://wordsandpeace.com/2012/02/02/january-wrap-up/

I clicked on the Notify me of new posts by email button and like magic I get an email from her blog just about every day. I really like it. I am working on a few challenges, but nothing I can’t handle. I usually poop out on them and feel guilty. LOL!

I think you did well in January. I haven’t been by in a long time…and I now notice that you and I are of the same mind about keeping up with blogs. Email alerts are the way to go for me as well with the little one running me around. I am going to subscribe to you via email now that I see you have an email subscribe button!